Highlife legend Amakye Dede has revealed that his experiences in Nigeria during his early years inspired his popular track ‘To be a man na wah‘.
Speaking on Joy FM, the multiple award-winning artiste said that he travelled to Africa’s most populous country during his youthful years to make a living.
Amakye Dede explained that life there was not easy adding aside from working odd jobs he was part of a band that played at hotels to make money.
He stated that in those times Nigeria was expelling Ghanaians from their country.
According to him, he and the band had played a show in a hotel one night.
But when they got up the next morning, they discovered that roughly 80 hotels, including the ones where they played, had burned down.
He mentioned that their instruments were also destroyed by the fire.
The musician continued by describing how one evening he heard a knock at his door and was startled to see a Ghanaian who was bleeding heavily after being stabbed with a glass.
Amakye Dede claimed that this factored into their decision to return to Ghana even though they were left penniless, adding “you had to run for your life.”
He said that, as he writes in “To be a man na wah,” Nigeria had taught him that it was difficult to be a man and support oneself.
“There are many challenges one would be faced with in the world”, Amakye Dede added.
